The AAWO originally began in 1983 in Westwood, New Jersey as a group of weather enthusiasts came together in October of that year to create the organization.

However, some who were prominent members of the first AAWO had shown support for the new surge in bringing back the organization.

[citation needed] When the AAWO began in 1983, their motto was "Education, Communication, Cooperation" and opened the door for amateur weather observers from all over the United States to communicate with each other via the American Weather Observer newspaper publication.

Before the AAWO there was no nationally recognized organization for the amateur weather hobbyist to share stories and observational data among each other.

Each issue had articles pertaining to significant weather events and was also a communications forum for the AAWO membership.